Underwear



Ojet. 29, 1935.` A. J. HARwooD UNDERWEAR Eiled May zo; 1955 NV NTOR f m BY aan Patented Oct. 219, 1935 UNITED STATES UNDERWEAR Asa J. Harwood, Richmond, Ind., assigner to The Atlas Underwear Company, Piqua, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 20,1935, serial No. 22,355

4 Claims.

This invention relates to undergarments and is concerned more particularly with a novel union suit which aifords the advantages of athletic underwear consisting of a shirt and shorts without the disadvantages inherent in such a combination.

The new garment is constructed to fit the body snugly while permitting complete freedom of body movement. It is therefore made of a yielding fabric, such as knitted material, and it is cut so as to cover the torso only and without leg coverings. With this construction, the garment resembles in appearance the present popular combination of a gymnasium shirt and trunks, but is cannot become disarranged.

The new garment comprises front and back portions united along their side edges, and these sections, if desired, may be of a. single piece of fabric, being cut, for example, from a length of tubular knitted goods. At the top, the front and back portions are connected by spaced shoulder straps, and the upper edges ofthe front and back portions between the shoulder straps are formed to provide a neck opening. At the sides of the shoulder straps, these edges of the two portions are cut to form arm openings, so that the upper part of the garment has the general form of an athletic shirt. At the bottom, the

by ay gusset insert, and to assure the comfort of the wearer, this insert is formed of a material which is stretchable longitudinally. The bottom edges of the front and back portions at either side of the insert extend generally diagonally upward therefrom to the side edges of the garment and are cut with the -proper curvature, so that these edges and the edges of the insert define leg openings. At the lower end of the front portion just above the insert, the garment is provided with a iiy section of novel construction, and the back portion is made of overlapping upper and lower sections providing a drop seat.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a view of the new garment in front elevation, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a view of the garment in rear elevation with a portion of the drop seat broken away; and

more comfortable, since the extra thicknesses of edges of the front and back portions are connected' Figs, 3, 4, and 5 are sectional views on the lines 3-3, 4--4 and 5 5 of Fig. 1, respectively.

Referring now to the drawing, the garment as illustrated includes a front portion I0 and a rear portion I I, these portions being united along` the =5 side edges I2 of the garment. The front and back portions are preferably made of a yielding fabric and may be advantageously formed of a knitted fabric having wales extending vertically. 'The y front portion isa continuous length of fabric ex- 10 tending from the top to the bottom of the garment, while the back portion is made of an upper section I 3 and a lower section I4. The upper and lower sections of the back portion overlap with the upper edge of the lower section lying outside 15 the lower edge'bf the upper section, so as to form a drop seat. The upper edge of the drop seat is provided with an elastic member I 5, which may be a strip of elastic fabric or an elastic cord secured along the edge of the drop seat in any 20 v suitable manner. While the front and back portions of the garment may be secured together along the side edges I2 by seams, it is preferable to form the front portion and the top section of the rear portion of a length of tubular fabric, and 25 when such fabric` is employed, there is no seam along the sides connecting the front portion and the upper section of the back. The lower section of the back is then secured to the front by seams I 6 which extend from the upper edge of the rear 30 section down to the lower end of the garment.

L At the top of the garment, the front and back portions are connected by shoulder straps I'I, and preferably, the upper edges of both portions are provided with spaced extensions I8 from which 35 the straps extend. Between the extensions I8, the top edge of the front portion is cut low', as at I9, to form the 'front edge of a neck opening, and on either side of the extensions I8, the top edge of the front portion of the garment extends 40 in generally diagonally downward directions to the side edges of the garment to form parts of armholes. The armholes and the neck opening are finished by means of hems 20, and, if desired, the hems for the armholes and neck openings 45 may continue beyond the `extensions I8 and be secured together to' form the shoulderstraps. One of these straps is in two parts with one part provided with a button-hole and the other with a button 2I so that the strap may be opened to per- 50 mit the garment to be easily put on and taken The top edge of the back portion of the garment is .provided with similar spaced extensions I8 to which the shoulder straps are connected, 65

and between the extensions, the edge dips down .as at 22 to form th'e rear part of the neck open ing and, preferably, it is formed of two layers .tothe end of the gusset insert.

of knitted fabric, the wales of which extend horizontally. At either side of the gusset insert, the edges of the bottom ends of the front and back portion of the garment are cut to form leg openings and they extend in generally diagonal upward directions to the side edges of the garment. To make openings which are comfortable, the edges ar'e formed on a curve with the edges 24 of the rear portion cut on a radius of slightly greater curvature than that on which the edges 25 of the front portions are cut. In order that the garment may fit snugly about the legs at the leg openings, elastic inserts 26 may be secured in place `around the openings, these inserts being preferably held in place by the stitching by which the hems 21, finishing the legopenings, are attached.

In the garment as illustrated, a fly section 28 of novel construction is provided, this section replacing part of the front portion of the garment at its lower end and being secured in position by a seam connecting it to the forward end of the gusset insert and also by a curved seam extending along the lateral sides of the section and across the top thereof. The section is made of two pieces, 28a and 28h, preferably of knitted goods arranged with the wales vertical, and the adjacent lateral edges of the pieces are free and overlap. The free edge oi.' the outer piece 28h extends in a generally diagonal direction from a' point at the top of the fly section at one side of the middle thereof to the bottom of the 'y section adjacent one lateral edge of the gusset insert. 'I'his diagonal position of the free edge of the outer piece causes the edge thereof to be sub- V jected to a pull at all times when a garment is being worn, and the opening between the two pieces is thereby kept from gaping and the free edge of the outer section does not sag. At the same time, the diagonal free edge of the outer section 28h provides a larger opening than would be available if the free edge were perpendicular In union suits, it is customary to provide a seat opening which may extend generally vertically from the waistline to the lower end of one of the leg sections. In the new garment, there are' no leg sections and if a vertical seat opening were/employed, it would be too short. Accordingly, the new garment is provided with a drop seat, and since the use of that construction imposes severe strains which might do damage to portions of the garment, particularly when it is made of knitted material, I provide a reinforcement which distributes the strains over wide areas. For this purpose, a strip 29 of fabric is securedto the front section in line with the upper end of the drop seat, the reinforcing strip 29 extending entirely across the front portion of the garment and being secured in position by suitable seams 3U. The strip 29 is preferably made of the same material as the remainder of the garment, as for example, of knitted material having vertical wales. By the use of this reinforcement, the strains imposed on the garment by the use of the seat are transmitted throughout the entire width of the front portion.

It will be seen that the new garment resembles 5 the combination of an athletic shirt and shorts which is now so widely worn, but it is more comfortable than that combination, because it is in one piece and the usual extra thickness of cloth at the waistline caused by the overlapping of the 10 shirt and shorts is dispensed with. The new the vwaistline with the top edge of the lower sec- 25 tion being free and providing a drop seat, an elastic reinforcing strip extending across the front of the garment between the side edges of the latter and connected at its ends t the lower section of the back portion lat the free upper edge of the latter said front portion and said upper section of the back portion being formed of a single piece of tubular knitted material having vertical wales and said lower section of the back portion being of similar knitted material and secured by stitching to the side edges of said front portion below the waistline and also to the 'front portion and said upper section of the back portion -along the side edges of the garment throughout the overlapped portion of said upper section, shoulder straps connecting the upper edges of said front portion and upper back section, and a gusset insert of a plurality of thicknesses of knitted material with horizontal wales connected to the lower edges of the front portion and lower back section, said lower edges on either side of said insert being cut on diagonally upward curved lines to provide leg openings defined in part by said edges and in part by the side edges of said insert.

2. An undergarment of the union suit type which comprises front and back portions united along their side edges, the front portion being 'connected to the back portion at the top of the garment by spaced shoulder Vstraps and vthe back portion comprising upper and lower sections overlapping and' providing a drop seat, a gusset insert connecting the central parts of the bottom edges of said portions, said gusset insert being elastic in a direction through the crotch, said garment having leg openings on either side of said gusset insert, and a. iiy section in the front portion and connected to the forward end of the gusset v insert, said fly section comprising two pieces of fabric having their adjacent edges overlapping and free, the free edge of the outer piece extending generally diagonally from a point at the ,top of the fly section downwardly to the upper front horizontal end of the gusset insert adjacent one of the leg openings.

3. An undergarment of the union suit type which comprises a shirt portion and a trunks portion, said shirt portion and said trunks portion being made of knitted material having the wales running vertically and providing elasticity in a portion at the rear being free and providing a drop seat, a reinforcing strip elastic in a horizontal direction connecting the shirt portion to the trunks portion at each side o1' the front of the garment opposite the upper edge portion of said drop seat, whereby strains resulting from the use of the drop seat will be distributed over wide areas. i

4. An undergarment of the union suit type which comprises front and back portions, said front portion being continuous from top to bottom. of the garment and said back portion consisting of upper and lower sections overlapping adjacent the waistline with the top edge of the lower section being free and providing a. dropseat,an elastic reinforcing strip extending across the front ofthe garment between the side edges of the latter and connected at its ends to the lower section of the back portion at the free upper edge of the latter, said front portion and said upper section of the' back portion being formed of tubular knitted material having vertical wales, and said lower section of the back portion being oi.' similar material and secured by stitching to the side edges of said front portion below the waistline and also to the front portion and said upper section of the back portion along theside edges v of the garment throughout the overlapped portion of said' upper section, shoulder straps connecting the upper edges of said front portion and upper back section, the central portions of the lower edges of said front and. back portions being connected by means elastic ina direction through zASA J. HARWooD. 

